French Roulette: La Partage, En Prison and the Call Bets

French roulette is played on the same single-zero wheel as European roulette, with 37 pockets numbered 0 to 36. What sets it apart is a rule for even-money bets when the ball lands on zero. Under la partage, you lose only half of an even-money stake instead of all of it. Under en prison, the stake is held for one more spin and returned if that spin wins. Either rule halves the house edge on those bets. The game also uses French names on the layout and is closely associated with call bets on sections of the wheel.

Reading the French layout

Traditional tables are long and often have the layout repeated on both sides of the wheel. Online versions usually keep the French labels and add an English toggle.

La partage: half back on zero

Partage means "sharing". If you have an even-money bet such as red, odd or high, and the ball lands on zero, half the stake is returned and the other half is lost.

The effect on cost is easy to calculate. On a standard single-zero wheel, an even-money bet loses on 19 of 37 pockets and wins on 18, giving an edge of 1 in 37, about 2.7 percent. With la partage, the zero costs only half a stake, so the edge on that bet falls to about 1.35 percent. All other bets on the table keep the usual edge of about 2.7 percent.

En prison: one more spin

Under en prison, a zero does not settle the even-money bet at all. Instead, the stake is marked as "in prison" and stays on the table for the next spin.

• If the next spin wins for that bet, the stake is released and returned, without profit.
• If the next spin loses, the stake is lost.
• If zero comes up again, the outcome depends on the house's rules; some tables lose the bet, others imprison it again.

Under common rules, en prison costs about the same as la partage. The difference is mainly in how it feels: la partage settles immediately, while en prison leaves the decision to one more spin.

Call bets on sections of the wheel

Call bets, also called announced bets, cover groups of numbers that sit next to each other on the wheel rather than on the layout. They are placed with set numbers of chips:

A call bet is simply a bundle of splits, corners and straight-up bets. It does not change the edge, and it multiplies the cost: a Voisins at one chip per position is nine chips on a single spin. Thinking of each chip as one betting unit keeps that cost visible.

French, European and American compared

The figures follow directly from the number of pockets and the payouts. They explain why the same stake costs very different amounts across versions, a theme covered more broadly in our guide to how casinos make money.

Myths at the wheel

Scoreboards that show the last twenty numbers invite pattern-spotting, but each spin is independent. A run of reds does not make black more likely next; that belief is the same trap discussed in our article on streaks in online slots. Sections of the wheel do not run hot or cold in any predictable way on a properly maintained table.

Quick answers

Is French roulette always played with la partage?

No. Check the table rules or help screen; some games labelled French use en prison, and a few use neither.

Does la partage apply to dozens or columns?

Usually not. It applies to even-money bets only.

A smaller edge still means paying for the spin. Roulette is for adults, should stay within a sum fixed in advance, and is not legal everywhere, so check your local position before you play.